When Ann Moody came to work as a gardener at Bellingrath Gardens in Theodore, Alabama, eight years ago, she saw the light displays being put up throughout the gardens starting Labor Day weekend, starting with the strands throughout the bushes and trees, followed by the set pieces. A former florist, “I had gotten kind of jaded about decorating,” she says. But her co-workers told her to expect “a complete metamorphosis when the sun went down.”
And that’s just what she saw the first time she walked through the aptly named Magic Christmas in Lights at night. “I choked up,” she says. “It really is over the top.”
This year, she’s choking up again, now and then, as she remembers a good friend, Greg Hill, who died of complications from cancer on Nov. 6, just three weeks before the 25th annual light show opened. “His DNA is in everything, all over the garden,” she says – particularly in the 3 million lights on display on the 65-acre estate. “This is where he was happy.”
Greg, who worked in maintenance at Bellingrath Gardens for 28 years, was a crucial part of Magic Christmas in Lights from its beginning. This year’s show is dedicated to his memory in recognition of nearly three decades of hard work to make the 1,100 set pieces and 16 scenes scenes come to life every year. At the show’s official opening on the night after Thanksgiving, Chuck Owens, the horticulture and operations director, remembered him with his voice shaking.
“I see Greg everywhere out here,” he said. “Everything you’re looking at, he made. He had an unusual ability to take plans off of a sheet of paper and turn it into this magic. We’re really going to miss him.”
Employees at Bellingrath Gardens make all the forms, then attach more than 3 million lights to create the annual Magic Christmas in Lights.
Year after year, visitors have come to expect the same magical array of scenes: neat pathways where light-strewn azalea bushes tower over visitors, butterflies hovering over the Rose Garden; the wide expanse of the Great Lawn dotted with glowing blue and green Christmas trees; sparkling spheres hung in the branches of the trees in Live Oak Plaza; the enchanting, colorful Underwater Forest among the bamboo; plus swans, dragons, a train and, of course, lots of flowers.
But this year, a new Mardi Gras scene – the last thing Greg worked on – made its debut. Since Mobile’s 2021 Mardi Gras celebration might not happen at all because of the coronavirus pandemic, the new scene is a sight for sore eyes. It includes beads flying through the air, barricades, a jester, a Bellingrath float and much more. Mardi Gras music adds authenticity to the scene.
And Greg Hill created each piece in the new scene, starting out by drawing them freehand in chalk on the concrete floor in the work area of the warehouse where all the Magic Christmas in Lights set pieces are neatly stored after the show is over on Jan. 3. Then he would weld the metal into the various designs, as he did for all the other scenes throughout the gardens. After that, the lights would be put on with zip-ties securing them to the forms.
Greg Hill designed and built a Bellingrath-themed Mardi Gras float as part of the new scene in this year's Magic Christmas in Lights.
“Greg was here from the beginning,” says Melissa Wells, the supervisor of the Christmas in Lights crew, who remembers him as a prankster but also a quiet, humble person. “He took pride in his work, but he didn’t like to boast,” she says. “He was like a MacGyver if you needed something. He will be hard to replace and greatly missed.”
Greg’s wife, Susan, still works at Bellingrath as a gardener. Every day, she is surrounded by her late husband’s life’s work. “We all admire her strength, too,” says Ann.
Greg never saw the Mardi Gras scene installed in the gardens, but he was able to see what it looked like in the dark thanks to his coworkers filming it for him in the warehouse. Because the new scene was top-secret, it wasn’t actually placed in its spot until shortly before the event started.
Melissa chokes back tears when she thinks of Greg and all his work that will live on at Christmas in Lights. “It’s almost like he’s looking down on it,” she says.
Familiar elements of Mobile's Mardi Gras celebration line the pathway into the new scene at Magic Christmas in Lights.
This year hasn’t been easy for Bellingrath Gardens, which was closed for two months in the spring because of the pandemic, then suffered damage from two hurricanes. But Magic Christmas in Lights has provided just the boost the gardens needed.
Visitors must wear masks to enter the ticket area and inside buildings, but they’re not required for walking the two-mile path as long as social distancing is maintained. So far, attendance has exceeded the event’s three-year average, and the weekday attendance is much higher than in previous years, according to officials.
In addition to the new Mardi Gras scene, choirs are now performing on the Great Lawn, where there’s more room for spreading out. On “Fat Tuesdays,” Mardi Gras organizations are coming out to toss beads as guests walk through. Visitors can buy s’mores kits and roast marshmallows at the new fire pit, where they can also enjoy hot chocolate. A socially distanced Santa is there, too, every night from 5 to 9 p.m. And admission times are staggered, but visitors can still take their time strolling and looking at all the scenes.
Not only is it a beautiful place to experience the joy of the holidays outside, there are other benefits to visiting Bellingrath, according to Ann, who describes herself as a “passionate gardener.” “It’s a guaranteed endorphin rush,” she says. “The microbes in freshly tilled soil give you a high. Just to be here and see everything, it’s got to affect your brain chemistry. Just get out here!”
Magic Christmas in Lights is open from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. nightly until Jan. 3 except for Dec. 25 and Jan 1. For an additional $10, visitors can also tour the beautifully decorated Bellingrath Home until 8 p.m. To order tickets, visit bellingrath.org.
"light" - Google News
December 21, 2020 at 09:25PM
https://ift.tt/2WziBXp
Bellingrath’s light show memorializes longtime employee - AL.com
"light" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2Wm8QLw
https://ift.tt/2Stbv5k
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Bellingrath’s light show memorializes longtime employee - AL.com"
Post a Comment